9 Years Later…

At sixteen years old, Amon knew that he came from noble bearings. No one could touch him, or so he thought. Truth be told, the other apprentices could approach him and treat him as if he were on their level. Yet, Amon kept up his nobility image, off-putting most of the others. Nobility made him feel guarded amongst his fellow apprentices.

Fey was the only one out of all the other apprentices that kept Amon sane. She was his best friend, his sister so to speak. With her, Amon did not feel the others around him. He did not feel the stares at him with her next to him.

"Blink and you're dead." Fey's voice rang out like a bell.

Amon mentally shook the thoughts out of his head.

Don't blink. Don't blink. The words echoed in his head. They echoed like they would have out loud in the empty mess hall of the main building.

Amon felt a hand on his shoulder. It set off several alarms in his head. He brought up his hand to the unknown hand. Amon twisted around while twisting the hand and faced the owner of the hand. Amon brought up his other hand to the unknown's face and brought him down on the table that Amon was sitting at with Fey.

"Hey!" The owner of the unknown hand was Apprentice Gareth. Gareth's eyes were wide and terror played at the edges of his irises.

Amon realized what he had done and released Gareth.

Gareth slowly sat up and stared at Amon, "How'd you do that?" Gareth's voice was full of wonderment while his terror slowly subsided.

"I-I don't know," Amon said as he looked at his hands in shock.

"Whatever it was, it was really unique," Gareth was overjoyed with the new discovery. "We should try and advance it so it could be better."

Amon glared at the overzealous apprentice. "It wasn't a spell," the noble spat.

Gareth looked taken aback.

"It was something…different," Amon said evenly.

Fey watched Amon try to comprehend what he just did. She could not imagine the turmoil that he was facing.

Gareth spoke up, "Why don't we go to the library? It might hold some clues." Gareth shrugged at the suggestion.

Fey gave a wide smile, "Or maybe Master Tarheel would be able to tell us!"

Amon stood in place as the other two made their way to the wooden gates of the mess hall. He was sure that neither one of them understood that this was not a spell. It was something different. He remembered his father teaching him certain things…things like what he just did.

The young noble apprentice shook his head before following Gareth and Fey.

The trio headed out the open gates of the Order Complex. Several guards watched them go out and disappear down the road. The trio continued their way to the library in silence. Not one word was said to give any sign of thought.

It felt like an eternity had passed when the trio final arrived at the library. All they had seen were trees, dirt, and rocks from the surrounding forest. They now stood in front of an ornate building meant to impress all that came upon it. It was also meant to instill humbleness upon the Mages who visited the library and it's Master.

Amon down casted his eyes from the building as he heard Fey mumble a prayer to Sargon.

"I don't think I'll ever look at a library again," Gareth murmured.

"If we don't come out, you won't have to," Amon stated. Amon felt Gareth's glare burn into the back of his neck. Amon smirked.

"Boys," Fey rolled her eyes as she led them down the stairs.

She stopped abruptly at a teeing entrance. There was a corridor to the left of the trio and to the right.

"Which way?" Gareth whispered. His voice echoed against the stone walls.

Amon peered down both corridors to see if he could notice any doors or out of place items that could give them a clue. There were torches down the right corridor, but nothing else of interest. To the left, Amon noticed a faint glow of purple that was definitely not torch light.

Amon began to move towards the left.

Fey shrugged, "Guess we go left." Gareth gulped as he followed both Amon and Fey.

Amon led the trio through the corridor silently as to not give off any alarms that there was someone approaching. His footsteps fell silently on the stone floor as they approached the soft purple glow.

As the glow grew slightly brighter, the torches began to go outward down a great hall. In front of the trio were two large ornate wooden doors. Next to the doors was the soft purple glow that peeked Amon's curiosity.

The purple hue belonged to a medium statue-sized illusion of a dragon standing above a tall man in robes. The man's lips moved as he spewed out an unthoughtful statement towards the dragon. A clawed talon then swooped down at the man, hitting him the face. At a closer look, one could clearly see the three scars on the man from head to body to lower abdomen.

Amon frowned slightly at the illusion as Fey and Gareth gave a shudder.

Footsteps echoed through the corridors, bringing Amon out of his dazed state from the illusion. He swiveled his head around to see if he could see anyone coming.

Amon turned to Fey and Gareth. He brought a finger up to his mouth to indicate that they should be silent. He then motioned for the two of them to follow his lead. He crept around to the other side of the illusion, away from where he thought the footsteps were coming from. Amon crouched down in the shadows as Fey and Gareth followed suit. Only Amon's moonlight eyes peered from the shadows to be sure that they were safe.

Tarheel? Fey mouthed.

Amon shook his head. He peered around the corner of the illusion to see a cloaked figure walking up from the left corridor.

The cloaked figure looked bulky as if he were wearing armor underneath. There was a medium sized object that swung parallel to his body.

Some kind of weapon, no doubt, Amon thought. He squinted his eyes to see if he could get anything else from the cloaked figure.

Nothing.

Amon took notice of a jeweled ankh on a simple rope in front of the figure. The ankh itself was a golden orange, almost like a sunrise or sunset. The jewels were shades of blue. Amon's eyes widened with realization.

Amon quickly pulled himself back behind the illusion statute. He looked at Fey and Gareth who were utterly confused at Amon's urgency. Amon shook his head and then placed a finger to his lips.

Amon listened carefully as the figure's footsteps approached the wooden doors to the library. He heard the figure hum in thought. Amon knew that the figure was trying to look for a way in. There was a tapping sound on wood that echoed through the vast great hall.

Silence erupted once again.

Gareth placed a hand over his mouth to keep his breathing from echoing.

Fey's eyes were wide as she tried to focus on the sounds that the cloaked figure might make.

Amon closed his eyes and concentrated on controlling his breathing and listening to what moves the figure might make next.

Sure enough, after a few moments of waiting, the trio heard the figure's footsteps fade back further into the corridors away from them. All three apprentices gave a sigh of relief.

Amon motioned for the other two to follow him out.